Come As You Are Ch. 03

And Danny, standing there stunned.

"Yes, Danny's gifted... and I admit I've gotten around enough to know it. But he's got NO clue how to use it." The nervousness had fallen away, replaced with confidence as Anne hit Danny square in his ego. "Maybe I'm going to go down in history as the town ski lift, and I'll live with that. But if that's true, then Danny? You're just the bunny slopes."

The insult and Anne's delivery weren't the best, but considering everything had been whipped up and put together in less than ten minutes, Sadie's congratulatory hand on Anne's shoulder was genuine, as was the crowd's reaction - a mix of shocked gasps and a few loud peals of laughter. Danny's jaw was dropped, eyes vacant, watching as his prom date, a slight smile forming on her face, raised her right hand and gave him her best attempt at a middle finger.

"How about a little dedication then!" Vienna cheerfully proclaimed. "This one goes out to Mr. Bunny Slope himself."

Nearly everyone on the dance floor recognized the song as soon as Missy Elliott began speaking. There were a few cheers, but the main reaction was laughter, loud laughter that contained almost six years of suppressed annoyance towards the arrogant basketball player, all poured out and directed towards him.

# Oh, I don't want I don't need I can't stand no minute man #

# I don't want no minute man! #

The song itself had yet to truly kick in, but all across the ballroom, Sadie could see people laughing and pointing at Danny. The humiliation finally seemed to set in. If he was yelling for people to shut up, she couldn't hear him over the combination of laughter and music. Everywhere she looked, someone was calling Danny out based upon Anne's comments and Vienna's song choice. Even a few of his teammates were bent over with laughter as were their dates. The only people who weren't laughing were Amy, who was jabbing a finger towards the DJ booth, and Tyler, who was physically holding Danny back. After a few seconds, Danny shoved his way past his best friend. He pushed through the crowd even as they jeered him.

"Oh no," Anne said alarmedly. "He's coming this way."

"You think this is funny?" The young man towered over everyone else as he made his way towards the DJ table. Tyler was right behind him, trying to get his hand on Danny's shoulder, only for his friend to knock it away. Amy followed in their wake. "You don't get to laugh at me, Scarecrow," Danny screwed as he made a beeline for Garrett. "You don't ever get to fucking laugh at me!"

Garrett froze at the sight of Danny coming right for him. Before he could react Danny grabbed the front of his tuxedo jacket with both hands. Spinning on his heels, he used his momentum to hurl Garrett onto the dance floor. Several students scattered while Garrett barely managed to keep his balance.

"You had to embarrass me," Danny declared. "You just had to embarrass me one final time before I left for North Carolina."

"I didn't do anything," Garrett shot back. "All I did was sit there!"

"Yeah right," spat Danny. "I bet you convinced Anne and Sadie to set me up! That's always been your game, West. Talking shit behind my back and cowering behind Vienna when I called you out on it. Well, no more. I am going to enjoy finally kicking your ass."

Vienna responded by turning the volume on the music down and ripping the headphones from her neck. Sadie could feel the rage coming off of her body as she tried to climb down. "Don't you lay a finger on him," she snarled, " or else I'm going to gouge out your damn eyeballs..."

She wasn't fast enough. An evil smile crossed Danny's face as, without hesitation, he cocked his fist and quickly pulled it over his shoulder. Instead of defending himself, Garrett threw up his arm, turning his head in anticipation of the bully's right hand. However, an arm shot up and wrapped itself around Danny's elbow while a hand clamped firmly around his fist.

"Don't." Standing behind Danny, Tyler flexed his massive arm, locking Danny's in place. "Don't do it, Danny. It ain't worth it."

Garrett warily climbed to his feet as Danny struggled to free his arm. "Let go of me, Tyler. West has four years' worth of ass-kickings coming now that he's finally man enough to take them."

"Chill the fuck out." Danny pulled at his friend, trying to free himself, only for Tyler to bear down further on him. "You punch him," Tyler proclaimed, "you break your hand, North Carolina pulls your scholarship. You punch him, he presses charges, North Carolina pulls your scholarship. You punch him, ESPN gets a hold of it, North Carolina pulls your scholarship." Tyler did his best to look Danny in the eyes. "Listen to me. He. Is. Not. Worth. It. Garrett West is not worth throwing your life away for. In a little less than a month you are going to be standing at half-court in the Dean Dome. Don't ruin everything you've worked for in your life over one punch. With me?"

Danny glared at Garrett for a long moment before nodding. "With you. Yeah, I'm with you, man." Tyler, relieved, carefully let Danny loose from his grasp. Once he was free, Danny took a step back while casually smoothing his shirt. Despite the distance between them he still loomed over his smaller classmate. "You're lucky, West. Tyler's 100% correct. I'm fucking done with you. Have what passes for a nice life." With that, Danny turned away. "Come on Tyler," he said, throwing an arm over the shoulder of his friend. "The night's still young." His other arm ended up around Amy's waist. "You too, Amy. There's a pool game over in the lounge with our names written all over it."

"That's a great idea." Amy put her hand on Danny's broad chest before smirking at Anne. "You should have a real woman on your arm during prom night anyway. Even if you combined Vienna and Sadie, you wouldn't have anything close to resembling a real woman. And throwing Anne in would make them even less of one..."

Sadie could see Anne's shoulders droop as a weary look crossed her face. "Hey Amy," Sadie called out, "don't forget to let your prom date know you're dumping him."

Amy's response to Sadie's comment was a full-bodied sigh of annoyance. She turned around to give her an exasperated look. "Do you know what's funny, Sadie? You came to prom without a date. You, of all people. Vienna, I can understand, because she hates people. Garrett, I can understand, because who the hell would want to go to prom with him? Danny's ex-girlfriend brings another girl, and all Scarecrow can do is sneak into the after party to serve drinks. But you? The biggest fucking slut in our graduating class and you're up there all by yourself."

"Considering you just admitted to banging Danny in the greenhouse," Vienna offered, "I'm pretty sure the crown of 'biggest slut' is sitting on your head right now."

Amy turned on a strychnine smile. "And the funniest thing about all this? You two," she said, pointing to Garrett and Sadie, "are such losers that you didn't even ask each other because you both KNOW what losers you are." Anne took a step back to lace her arm with Danny's. "So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to continue having an awesome prom night, and when it's all said and done I'm going to call my Dad to come pick me up." With a pointed look at Sadie, she added, "Calling their Dad. Just another thing I'm better than you at."

Anger welled up inside of Sadie at Amy's flippant comment. "Yeah, you're also better at being Danny's fucking cum dumpster than I am," she snapped.

Holding a hand up to her ear, Amy casually responded, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Would you mind saying it to my face?"

Sadie was immediately in motion. The crowd of students murmured as she hopped down from the riser and marched directly up to Amy. She came next to Garrett, who hadn't moved since his confrontation with Danny. He watched quietly as Sadie repeated herself. "I said, you're better at being Danny's cum dumpster than I am."

"Oh, I knew what you said. I was just banking on you being stupid enough to come down here so I could get a good look at you. I thought I recognized that dress," she said as she eyed Sadie up and down. "I bought it for an awards dinner for my Dad, but my little brother accidentally spilled ink on it. We donated it to charity for a tax write-off and I guess they don't get more charitable than you." Before Sadie could respond, Amy tore the floral bouquet of purple cloth from her dress. Amy smiled triumphantly at the sight of the large blot of dark ink spread across the fabric. "Aw," she teased, "look at you. No date and a stained dress. If that's not the story of your life, Sadie, I don't know what is."

"You're right, Amy. I'm just a piece of gutter trash. A loser without a prom date." Amy's grin grew wider as she basked in Sadie's admittance of inferiority. Lost in the comment, she didn't notice Sadie calmly reaching out and plucking a red Solo cup from a surprised and protesting Rosemary McBrenan before hurling its contents at Amy.

Rosemary's drink of choice had been something fruity. The sweet scent filled the air as the colorful liquid splashed over Amy's face and against the top of her lavender dress. The fabric darkened as it soaked up the alcohol. Amy's smirk turned into shock. She flapped her hands, scattering drops of liquid through the air. A high-pitched squeak of indignation escaped from Amy's lips, followed by a series of strangled noises as she tried to express her anger in words.

"But," Sadie smirked, "I'm not the only one with a stained dress..."

"YOU BITCH!"

Sadie's smirk quickly fell away as Amy went from embarrassed to infuriated in an instant. The queen bee of Emerald Pines darted forward. Before Sadie could react, Amy had wrapped her arms around her and driven both of them to the floor. Sadie cried out as her tailbone smacked into the parquet floor, sending a flare of pain shooting up her spine even as a shrieking Amy straddled her and began raining blows down upon her.

Sadie did her best to cover up as Amy swung wildly at her. She kept her forearms up, protecting her head and face, letting Amy wear herself out. The strategy worked until Amy grabbed a handful of Sadie's curly brown hair. It felt as if Amy was trying to tear an entire chunk from her scalp.

She countered by grabbing Amy's chin. She forced her assailant's head up to expose her throat. With her other hand, Sadie jabbed her middle and index fingers into the spot where Amy's neck met her shoulder. It was a trick taught to her by her uncle and inadvertently demonstrated a time or two at the VFW on an unruly patron.

Amy immediately began howling in pain. She thrashed, letting go of Sadie's hair. Sadie took advantage to shove Amy off of her. When Sadie got to her feet, however, Amy, already upright, charged her once more. This time Sadie stood her ground, waiting for Amy to get within range before using her assailant's momentum to wrap her up in a side headlock. Bent over at the waist, her head trapped between Sadie's ribs and her flexing arm, it was Amy's turn to scream bloody murder as Sadie wrapped Amy's brown hair around her fingers before twisting as hard as she could. "LET ME GO, YOU STUPID WHORE," Amy screamed as she tried to push herself free, only for Sadie to intertwine her fingers even further.

"Let's see your Daddy get you out of THIS one!" taunted Sadie in return.

"Damn it! Garrett, give me a hand here!" Sadie heard Tyler call for aid just before a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, while Tyler forced his arm between her and Amy, causing her to break the headlock.

"Come on, Sadie," Garrett said in her ear as he dragged her backward. "Come on, just let it go!"

"Let me go!" As Sadie struggled, she could see that Amy was struggling as well, locked in the strong grasp of Tyler as he tried to drag her across the floor. "I'm going to knock that bitch's lights out!"

"I'd like to see you try, you piece of gutter trash!" Amy yelled back.

"Oh, get some new material!" Sadie pushed at Garrett's arms, but the young man had her locked up tight. A part of her was surprised at how muscular they were, however, the majority of her focus was on getting free to take another swing at Amy. "Let go of me, Scarecrow, right fucking now! I owe this bitch a kick right in the babymaker!"

"Yeah, take care of your babymaker," called Amy. Tyler had managed to get her maybe a dozen feet away from Sadie but she was still trying to force her way from the large senior's grasp. "The only way you'll ever keep a guy is to get knocked up so he's gotta hang around for eighteen years!"

"Both of you, knock it off!" Tyler's voice echoed across the ballroom. The timbre of his voice immediately caused both Amy and Sadie to cease their attempts to get free. Garrett's arms loosened somewhat as well. He kept a slack grip on Sadie, holding her while not holding her body. "Someone's going to get hurt! Seriously hurt! It's fucking prom night! Can we please get through this evening without having to call 911!" Tyler gestured back and forth between the two young women. "You insulted each other, you embarrassed each other, and you physically assaulted each other. Tit for tat, call it square and walk away, OK?"

"I haven't shown this bitch my tits OR my tat." Still, Sadie blew out a deep breath before putting her hands up in a gesture of reconciliation. "I'm cool, I'm cool."

"Whatever," Amy snorted. "I'm done with this."

Garret's arms slipped from Sadie's body. "Sorry to grab you like that," he said sheepishly. "When Tyler yelled, I just reacted..."

"Amy, no!"

Sadie turned, as did Garrett, to see Amy, having been let loose from Tyler's grasp, charging her. She braced herself, ready to once again grab Amy in a headlock, only for Garrett to step in front of her. He braced himself as well, putting his body between Sadie and a screeching Amy.

Amy slammed into Garrett. She didn't slow down. He didn't budge. The result was the irresistible force bouncing off of the immovable object. Amy landed square on her butt on the parquet floor in front of Garrett. When she looked up at him, it was with a look of hurt indignation. "What the hell?" she demanded. "Why did you shove me?"

"Shove you? You ran into me!" He bent down and extended his hand towards Amy, meaning to assist her in getting up. "Amy, just let it go before you..."

The dull sound of Danny's fist driving into Garrett's stomach resonated across the ballroom. A shocked cry came from the nearby students as Garrett stumbled backward from the impact. The risers of the DJ booth were the only thing that stopped him from spilling to the floor as he managed to roll along the edge and keep himself upright even as he doubled over in pain. "Fuck you West," he yelled. "You never lay your hands on a woman!"

"Oh, you motherfucker." Vienna hopped down from risers, her own hands tightening to defend her best friend, with a concerned Anne following her wake. As Vienna passed by Sadie however, Sadie reached out to grab her arm before nodding towards Garrett who had managed to push himself back to a standing position. Despite holding his stomach with one hand, the rage in Garrett's eyes matched Danny's. If Garrett had his way, Sadie thought, in six months they were still going to be looking for Danny's head.

"That's the last time you ever lay a goddamn hand on me," he growled, having caught his breath.

"Danny!" Behind Danny, Tyler had helped Amy to her feet. "What the hell did I say? This isn't worth throwing your life away! Just forget about him!"

Danny shook his head. "Sorry, man. I've waited four and a half years for this loser to show some real backbone. Let's do this." Garrett took a deep breath. He flexed his fingers before curling them into tight fists. Opposite him, Danny, a malicious grin on his face, raised his hands and took a step forward...

"Problem?"

Danny looked away from Garrett to the man now standing next to him. There wasn't anything resembling a look of friendliness on Gio's face as he squared his shoulders to face Danny. Behind Gio stood Michelle, Colette, and Brenda. The other two girls took in the scene while Brenda stepped over to Garrett. Danny's eyes narrowed when Brenda put her hand on Garrett's shoulder. "Are you OK?" Sadie heard her ask.

"No," Garrett winced. "Good to see you, Gio."

"Sorry," Gio said, "I was getting some fresh air. Does anyone mind catching me up?"

"Just reminding Scarecrow of his place on the food chain..." Danny immediately went quiet as Gio stepped up to him. The two largest students in their class school stood a few inches apart. The basketball player's face was red with anger versus the calm and collected look on the skier's face.

"Is this actually going to happen?" Anne whispered as the two faced off.

"I hope not," Sadie answered. "One of them will go to emergency and the other will go to jail."

"You stay out of this." Danny tried to step around the young Italian man, his focus solely on Garrett. "This is between..."

Danny froze as Gio's hand fell on his shoulder. "Back off Danny," Gio said, the barest hint of a threat underlying his words. "Don't even think about it."

"Take your damn hand off of me," Danny said, keeping his eyes on Garrett.

"No, I don't think so."

"I'm going to count to three. If your hand isn't off my shoulder, you're going to fucking regret it. One..."

"Two."

At Gio's singular word Danny spun around. Now his focus was solely on the skier. "You want to finally do this Giovanni?" Danny rolled his neck, never taking his eyes off his opponent. "Just say the word."

Tyler threw up his hands in frustration. "God damn it, Danny! Stop doing stupid shit!"

"It's not my fault everyone wants a piece of the champ tonight." Danny motioned to Gio with both hands. "We can dance in here or we can step outside. Whatever you want."

"I don't want anything Danny," Gio answered, "except for you to walk it off and calm down so you and everyone else can enjoy the rest of the night. You're making an ass out of yourself. Go back to your friends and just chill out."

Danny pointed around Gio to where Garrett leaned against the riser. "I'm going to finally kick his ass. And if that means I have to go through you to do it..."

Danny fell quiet as Vienna, despite Sadie pulling on her arm, stepped between Gio and Garrett. She stood silent, arms at her sides with fist clenched, staring at Danny. A moment later she was joined by Anne. A look of defiance was on her face as she also crossed her arms and glared at her ex-lover.

The defiance quickly turned to shock when she noticed that Brenda had stepped away from Garrett to join the group. Brenda didn't glance in Anne's direction. Her entire focus was on Danny. "Danny," she said in a firm voice laced with melancholy, "it's all over. Please, just go away."

"Fine. This group is the collection of town whores. And yet none of you are getting laid tonight. Ain't that rich?" Gio's face twisted at the comment. Danny threw up his hands and backed away. "And one last time, Giovanni bails out West. You should dump this loser before he drags you down."

Danny turned around and headed back towards the basketball players in the corner. Amy all but spat in Sadie's direction as she followed after him, with Tyler bringing up the rear. Gio kept his eyes focused on Danny, never taking his eyes off of him until Danny walked out of the ballroom alongside Tyler, Amy, and several members of the basketball team.

"Garrett," Gio called over his shoulder while he watched Danny leave, "are you OK?"

"No. No, I'm not. That really hurt. I don't think he caught a rib at least." Garrett was hunched over slightly, wincing as the adrenaline wore off.

"I am so sorry." Garrett looked up as two young women said the exact same words at the exact same time. Anne and Brenda glanced at each other for a moment, blinking in surprise. It was Anne who stepped forward first. When she put a hand on Garrett's arm as a kind gesture, Sadie saw a look of disdain momentarily cross Brenda's face. "I didn't mean to get you punched."